Horch 853A Coupé "Manuela" by Erdmann & Rossi

Let's get started with a new magnificent project:  A line of one coupé and six roadsters will show the German top cars of the late 1930s, many of them bodied by famous coachbuilders Erdmann & Rossi.  This manufacturer was located in Berlin (where I live!), and the company was active until ca. 2010, although only as a "normal" garage, not making any coachbuilding after WWII.  The history of this company is as colourful as sparkling.  In the 1930s, Erdmann & Rossi created the most gorgeous coachworks on all chassis: Mercedes, Horch, Bugatti, Hispano, Bentley, RR and so on.  It was probably the only German coachbuilder who played in the same league as the French (leading) coachbuilders like Figoni, Saoutchik and Pourtout.  Their creations were modern, sometimes even streamlined, and of perfect proportions and outstanding quality.  Nowadays a club of enthusiasts formed a new company "Erdmann & Rossi", maintaining the name and giving advice and licences for re-creations of the original bodies.

For beginning, I choose the well-known coupé specially made as a one-off for the famous racing driver Bernd Rosemeyer.  He was one of the top-stars in social life in Germany and formed a kind of "power couple" together with his wife Elly Beinhorn, a likewise famous sport pilot (there were many female sport pilots in Germany at that time). Their luck did not last long, only a few years after marrying, Bernd Rosemeyer died in a tragic accident when driving a new speed record.

At that time, the top models of Horch, Mercedes and Maybach were not only sold to anyone who could pay for them, but they were "handed out" by propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, the mastermind behind Adolf H., who managed the complete "marketing" of Nazi-Germany.  Rosemeyer, as one of the top stars, of course had the privilege to get one of the most attractive cars which were ever built in Germany, and he named her "Manuela" - it remains unclear to whom this car was dedicated.  Here she is:

And here she is with Rosemeyer on the Berlin AVUS, the most famous racing track at that time, nowadays a normal Autobahn, nearby where I live.  This coupé was built up on a specially shortened chassis of the Horch 853A, normal wheelbase 345 cm, for the "Spezial-Roadster" shortened to 330 cm, but for this one-off shortened again to 297 cm.  The car was built exactly to the demands of Rosemeyer, and as a very special detail the original commission order by Erdmann & Rossi still exists, so we can read how this car was equipped inside and outside.  (This is quite seldom, as most Berlin companies lost their archives in the war).

My starting point is the model made by Danhausen/Western Models, still offered by TinWizard in a slightly enhanced version.  I take the old one, as I will - of course - change any details, anyway...

The original baseplate.

Creating a proper stance is always the first very difficult job!

Looks adventurous, but it is necessary to combine baseplate, axles and body independently from each other, but with the exact measuring.

Any part itself has to be fixed in a straight X-, Y- and Z-axis.

Finally, the car stands straight and steady on her four wheels!

My self-made wheels are much bigger than the original ones included in the kit, so I had to adjust the baseplate.

A first bunch of p/e parts.

Although nicely made, I need new front endings of the wings.  They are too narrow, too "lean" and should be more bulky.

A slot is cut into the wings, the p/e part defines the new front line, exactly transferred from the original photo.

Here we can see the difference.

Arrrggghhh!

After several dozens of times filling, honing, grinding the front wings got almost their new shape.

Now the wheel arch fits perfectly to the wheels.

That's all for today, stay tuned!